Photos released in White Center slaying

As King County detectives continue the investigation into a White Center shooting that left a 23-year-old woman dead, surveillance photos that investigators believe show the woman’s killer and two accomplices have been released.

The young woman was shot to death at 1 a.m. Tuesday near the intersection of Southwest Roxbury Street and 15th Avenue Southwest, according to the Sheriff’s Office statement.

“At this point, no suspects are in custody and no weapon has been recovered,” Deputy Travis DeFries said in a statement issued late Tuesday morning. “We have not been able to rule out if this was gang-related or not.”

About 40 minutes before the woman was killed, deputies were called to the area – located just south of the Seattle city limits – following a report of a fight there. Deputies spoke with several young women, including the woman who was killed, who said the disturbance was minor and that the other group had already left the area.

In an effort to prevent further violence, deputies remained in the area and began to patrol on foot to increase their visibility, Deputy Travis DeFries said in a statement. Just before 1 a.m., those deputies heard the sound of gunfire near the site of the original disturbance.

Deputies rushed to the scene and found the victim in the middle of 15th Avenue Southwest, the Sheriff’s Office spokesman continued. She’d been shot at least once.

Witnesses said that at least two members of the group involved in the fight had returned and fired at the woman, DeFries said.

“She was a good person,” Emani Gaoteote, a friend of the victim, told KOMO/4. “I don’t know who would want to hurt her.”

The shooter and his accomplice then fled on foot.

The suspects, shown in still images captured from a surveillance camera at a nearby business, were described as black men in their early to middle 20s. All three remained at large Wednesday.

According to statistics made available Tuesday by the Sheriff’s Office, White Center has seen a 24 percent increase in the number of reports made to police.

Reports of violent crime were up slightly in the first seven months of the year, compared to 2010. While several slayings occurred just inside the city limits last year, White Center saw only one killing in 2010.

Anyone with information can contact the King County Sheriff’s Office at 206-296-3311 or 911.